From Love Comes Pain
by Grape Lemonade
Summary: 'Annabeth Chase, I will never forget you.' Percy has been captured and is being tortured by a insane god, and Annabeth must try to live without her Seaweed brain.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own any characters.**

**I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this story or leave it as a oneshot. Please review what you think I should do.**

The whip cracked into his back, and the dark haired boy cried out. The cruel rope carved lines into his back, causing blood to run down onto the floor. The whip hit again. And again. And again. He yelled out, his vision edged with black, but the fates wouldn't be kind enough to let him lose consciousness.

Then he was running, running for dear life. Ignoring the mess of his back and the agony that erupted from where the whip had left it's mark every time he took a breath. He dodged from side to side, taking random turns to try and rid his pursuers. A dead end. He turns to face them, and they're dogs, with red beady eyes and sharp fangs that still dripped blood from their last kill. They raced towards him, until he could feel their stinking breath all over his body. A hound reached out and sank it's teeth into his thigh. Pain exploded and he yelled out. Then hole appeared in the floor below him and he fell away, the hound ripping away some of his leg as gravity took him down. He screamed out.

It was a forest now, and both his leg and his back was a mess of blood and gore. Gods he wanted to stop. He let himself sink to the ground. It had been one hundred years of suffering. He was just weary of it. Tired of the pain, tired of the loneliness, tired of the heartache. He couldn't do it anymore.

But a grey eyed girl appeared on his mind, and he gritted his teeth and started to hobble forward. He would do it for her. If he died now, if he let go, he would never see her again. A huge bat-like creature dived towards him, but he picked up a stick and swung it at it, causing it to shriek and chatter. Then suddenly there were hundreds, all sharp beak and claws. All he could see was a flurry of wings. He crashed onto his cut up knees. There were too many, they were going to overwhelm him. His stick snapped in half and he leaned down, trying to protect himself from the onslaught. They pecked at his arms, trying to get to his eyes. But he would not be blinded in this place.

Then the ground below him turned to concrete, and the bats vanished. A sob broke out of the demigod's chest as had looked around him at the same old cell. He knew what was coming next. The floor dropped away, and he fell through the darkness into the river of fire. He could feel it burning his skin, healing his wounds. He kicked out and tried to swim, but the shackles were weighing him down, and he couldn't find the surface. The water was heavy, swirling around him until he didn't know which way was up and which was down. He kicked wildly, but couldn't escape the agony. His mouth wrenched open and the liquid fire entered his lungs and burned every inch of him. Then the shackles pulled him upwards, the floor solidifying underneath him. Then he was in his cell again. The cell was made of concrete, small and dingy. The floor was stained with his blood. It was utterly devoid of anything that could have made his life easier. In the corner was a jug of water and a loaf of bread with some cheese, a pizza and a tub of ice cream. It was ironic that it had nice food here, considering what he went through ever day. He ate like a wild animal. Then, just like every night, he lay down on a plank of wood, and stared up into the darkness.

It was easier now. He was more muscled, more used to the pain. Things didn't shock him any more, he knew to just keep running. Eventually his weariness stole his consciousness and he succumbed to sleep's soothing song.

_She was there. Her blonde hair was dirty and she was covered in cuts and bruises, but she was still with him. His wise girl. Her eyes were clouded with fear, but it changed to recognition and relief when her eyes met his. Grey and green. "Percy?" Her voice was raspy and tired, but to him it was the most beautiful sound in the word._

_"I'm here Wise Girl, I'm here." He reached out and gently leant her against him, stroking her hair._

_"Where are we?" She buried her head further into his chest._

_"I don't know. But I'm going to find a way to get you out, I swear." _

_She looked around her, failing to take in what this must mean. They were in a huge, dimly lit cavern, with blood-red walls and a coal-black roof. They were hanging in separate rusty, cramped cages, so high up the cages on the floor seemed like they were for ants. The cages surrounding them were all filled with bodies, some decomposing, and some just bones. The stench of blood and rotting flesh filled the air, making them cough. It seemed to fill their lungs like tar, sapping their strength with every breath._

_Then a grotesque being walked into the cavern, somehow making the stench even more intoxicating and foul. "I am Thranx, the god of loss of love."_

_"Are you? Never heard of you." Annabeth's voice jutted out confidently over the cabin. Gods, Percy loved this girl._

_"The twelve Olympians forgot about me, refused to acknowledge the powers I have. Zeus became too protective of his little mortals, the ones who waste the Earth that we own." The terrible creature continued, ignoring the blonde demigod's comment. "He did not want me to cause them to lose someone they love, did not want them to feel pain like I can create. Yet he lets Poseidon cause tsunamis that drown thousand and hurricanes with kill hundreds more. He let's Ares create wars that steal people away from their families, let's Aphrodite separate loved ones and make them feel pain. And they are the twelve most powerful Olympians, and yet I have to rot here, away from civilisation. But they will pay, oh yes, they will pay." His voice grew louder with every word, until it boomed and echoed around the huge cavern. "For I have got their two most prized demigods in my cages, and through you I will cause them so much pain. So, this is how it works." Two glass vials floated in front of their cages. They both had a pale blue liquid in. "One of them is a magical liquid, and one is safe. The magical liquid insures your immortality, but it will knock you out for a day. Then you will stay here, for the rest of eternity, feeling all the pain I can cause. And the other will feel true loss for all eternity. They give you immortality, so you cannot die apart. The mercy of death will only ever be yours when you are together. The Olympians will know their mistake!"_

_"You're mad. You'll never get away with this." Annabeth's voice wavered slightly at the end. "We won't drink, you can't make us."_

_"Oh, really. Well then, if you don't I'll have to make you feel loss another way. Who should I take first, Sally, Nico, your friends on the Argo II?" Maybe that old centaur, or a few of your buddies at Camp." His voice turned cold and icy, every word dripping with malice._

_Percy swallowed. He knew what he had to do. He could sense which one would anchor him here and which one wouldn't, another advantage of being a son of Poseidon._

_"I love you Wise Girl. I have since I first met you, I just didn't know it. We've been through so much together, and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have survived a single quest. You're what keeps me going in a battle, you're what I live for. I went through Tartarus with you, and you got me through it. We're eighteen, and in three years I would have asked you to be my wife. I guess that can never be now. But I love you Annabeth Chase. I always have. And I always will." _

_They were both crying now, and they shared one last kiss, one full of tears and memories. Then he reached for the potion and downed it all in one. Then the world faded into darkness._

He woke up with a jolt. The pain was still raw, even if it had been one hundred years. He murmured under his breath the same phrase he had every day for a century.

"Annabeth Chase, I will never forget you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to the reviewers, favourites and followers.**

**I've hit a bit of writer's block, so it would mean the world if you could review a few suggestions on where to take this fic.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

She told herself to stop crying.

She told herself to start eating again.

She told herself to start reading again.

She told herself to let him go.

To train again.

To smile, to laugh.

To help train others.

To keep planning buildings.

Like he would have wanted her to.

And then she'd see the lake where they shared their first kiss, or the woods where they first played Capture the Flag, and her walls would break and the tears would come flooding back again.

Annabeth buried her head further into her pillow. It was already wet from her tears. One hundred years. It had been one hundred years since she'd last seen him. The gods had made her friends immortal as well. It was a cruel trick of that god Thranx, to never let them die. Making them live on without each other. And the worst thing of all was she knew he was going through all the pain in the world every second she moped around. That he was going through it for her.

She had gone through every second in her head. What she should have done differently. How she should have recognised the look in his eyes, the look he got when he was about to do something stupid. She should have held onto him, never let him go. Or maybe impale them both on his sword so they didn't have to live through this.

The whole camp was different now. The Poseidon table stood empty at the front, a homage to where he would have sat. Chiron had this sad look in his eyes. He stopped playing his terrible music loudly, stopped making jokes. Clarisse was constantly angry at the world, Calypso planted mourning flowers. The tree nymphs made sure they never wilted. The satyrs played sad songs on their pipes through the night.

Cabin Three was always locked. The lights were off and the place seemed cold. The flowers wilted and the water turned to ice. The young campers would dare themselves to go and touch the door. They seemed to think the place was inhabited by ghosts. It might have been, the way the immortal campers refused to walk past it.

The sea nymphs had risen to the other demigod's when he was gone. They still kept up the traditions he had started. If had been Percy's idea, from his own personal experience, that the campers who had just joined the Hermes cabin needed somewhere to keep anything valuable. So he had created a few little bubbles that were just for them, and submerged them under the water. He would bring them up when they asked, and they could have it for the day. Annabeth had to stifle a sob. He had been so considerate.

Grover was a mess of untamed hair and tears. He cried a lot. He stuck to his task, bringing in demigod after demigod flawlessly. Talked about returning to his roots, literally, the roots he sprung from. Juniper looked at him and bit her lip, worry stretching across her pale green face. The Lord of the Wild kept wandering around like he expected to see Percy running up to meet him, with a joke already on his lips. But it never happened. Once Annabeth saw him knock on the door to to Cabin Three, and then break down on the doorstep when there was no answer.

Jason said that they would be fine without him, that he would lead both camps. He said it to reassure Piper. Piper punched him in the nose. Then she marched of and managed a week of roses and begging before she kissed him again. Annabeth didn't blame her. In the hardest times it meant the world to have someone to hold onto. Leo didn't make jokes the same way, spending hour after hour in bunker 9 to escape the sadness of the camp. Hazel walked around in a daze. Frank kept turning into a tiny insect so nobody knew when he cried. He didn't try to lead, didn't set out to be the hero. That probably why people respected him. Nico was even worse than the rest of them, never stepping out of the shadows, never speaking. He disappeared even more than he had before, barely even there at all. Only when Hazel needed him would he utter a few words. And every day he would stand before all the camp and declare that Perseus Jackson was not yet dead, not yet entered his father's realm.

Zeus was even more angry, making stupid decisions. Aphrodite kept breaking down and weeping about wretched true love and happily ever afters. Hestia sobbed quietly into the hearth. Because of them Percy's wish eventually came true. The anniversary of 50 years since his disappearance was when they announced it. Annabeth wasn't there to witness it. She spent the day sitting by the lake that was exactly the shade of his eyes. Dionyseys was demoted to a minor god, sent out of the camp. He was happy to go and spend his days in mortal bars drinking gallons of wine. Hades replaced him in the council. Hestia's throne sat next to his. Hades started paying more attention to Nico, just like Percy asked him to. Even Hera shed the odd tear.

And through all that Athena sat there, still and composed. She did not offer her shoulder to her crying daughter, instead telling her to hide her emotions and set an example. Told her to get over the foolish son of Poseidon and carry on studying. She wasn't like a mother. She never had been.

Poseidon was ripped with grief, and the tides were either slow, going far out for hours before returning, or angry, great waves crashing down on the shores and hurricanes ripping up towns and piers. He looked broken, his beard wild and his sea green eyes but even then he was more of a parent to her than Athena. He held her when she sobbed, and made the flying horses trust her enough to let her ride them. She would fly up into the clouds and let her emotions show through, the wind on her face blowing away the tears.

That was the only time she could be weak.

The camp looked up to her when their saviour disappeared the first time, and they do the same now. Except back then everyone knew he was coming back, that they would find him eventually. But now it had been a century since they had last seen him. The young campers would tell stories of him, sing songs of how he saved the world. Only the immortal campers remembered him.

So she would make herself busy from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep. She would train for an hour, then have breakfast. Teach the youngsters how to climb the lava wall, or how to show a flying horse you're their friend. Then she would teach an hour on Ancient Greek, the train till lunch. Eat. Train again. Then set up the teams for capture the flag, and make sure everyone who had a sword knew how to use it. Then stand at the side with a box of ambrosia and a flagon of nectar. If the memories of him started to overwhelm her, she would run through the trees scouting for the injured. Then they would win, and she would start the campfire going then leave. She would swim in the lake, working on the different strokes. Then she would allow herself to think of him. Of his eyes that were the perfect shade of blue-green, of his stupid little jokes. Then she would get out, dry herself and go back to the campfire. Talk to Rachel, then make sure the littler ones got to their cabin's safely. Then, when all the lights were off and the place was empty, she would go and stand next to his cabin. Press her hand against the shells, just like he did. Then she would go to her cabin, and tuck herself up. It was an extension of the Athena cabin, a tiny room that was just hers. The walls were soundproofed. She didn't want to wake the other campers up with her screams.

Train. Eat. Teach. Teach. Train. Eat. Train. Prepare teams. Help out. Start the campfire. Swim. Cry. Get the others back to their cabins. Sleep. Dream. The same every day for one hundred years.

Every night she would close her eyes and let the dreams take her away. Sometimes they were nightmares, dreams of Tartarus or of losing him. Every so often she would dream of all the moments she shared with the son of Poseidon. They were worse than the nightmares. Because she would wake up and get dressed and walk to his cabin, only to find it empty and cold. Only to remember that he wasn't there anymore. False hope is so much worse than no hope at all. Because you can never truly heal if you have false hope.

And then, every so often, she would see him. See him covered in scars and bruises. See the whip flaying the skin on his back, see countless birds ripping at his face. See him scream and yell and cry. But he never wished to leave in her dreams. No matter how much pain he was in, how tired he was, he never begged.

He looked different now. She hated that. His muscles were more pronounced, his jawline straight and his cheekbones high. He looked so different to the long haired, geeky boy from New York she had fallen in love with. His eyes didn't dance and shine anymore, his mouth wasn't constantly ready to break into a grin. If eyes are the windows to the soul, he had truly broken. But he loved her. She could feel it. By the way he kept on going, struggling through to come out at the end. She remembered what he said when they had just fallen into Tartarus, when there had seemed no hope.

"We'll get through this, Wise Girl. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel."


	3. Chapter 3

**I wish I had some excuses, but I don't. It's been over a year since I last updated this, and since then my writing style has totally changed and evolved. The plan is to pick up the story where I left off, but it's been so long a lot of things have changed in my head about both the characters and the plotline. I really love all feedback, negative and positive, so I'll be forever grateful if you leave your feedback in the comments section.**

**Sadly, I don't own these characters, but the plot is mine.**

**This contains, as usual, lots of gore and blood so if that's triggering for you, please don't read. It also contains some minor swearing and my pathetic attempt at a fight sequence.**

The concrete was tinged red from the blood that had soaked it over the years. He realised this lying on the plank of wood he called his bed and staring up. He had managed to get blood on the ceiling. Now that was impressive.

Suddenly a voice filled the air so loud that the walls shook. It seemed to be made of a thousand whispers and screams and shouts rolled into one cacophony of pure noise.

"Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon."  
"People call me Percy." His voice was drowned out but he felt the need to say something. "Only school teachers call me Perseus, my friends call me Percy. And considering we've known each other for such a long long time, I reckon that you qualify as that now."

"SILENCE!" He shut up. "For one hundred years you have suffered every heinous torture a man can endure. For a century Annabeth had never once come looking for you, has never once shed a tear for you. She has found someone else, someone who can be so much more than someone as stupid as you. Now you have learnt the truth, that love only ends in pain." It cackled, the very ground underneath his feet shaking. "I have decided to offer you a deal. You may leave here, live a life of luxury and never feel pain again. You may eat whatever you choose, go wherever you choose, you may never have to set foot in this cell again. All I ask in return is for someone else to take their turn. Annabeth Chase had lived a perfect life in luxury while you rotted in a cell, now it is time to switch places. I will give you a short while to decided, after that if you choose no you will never leave this place."

"I don't need any time." He didn't bother raising his voice. "I decided the second you started speaking." There was a silence, and then his voice cut through the putrid air. "Annabeth Chase may not love me anymore. She may have found someone else to spend her existence with. But that doesn't mean that I don't love her. Every single day it is her face, her voice, her everything, that gets me though the pain. It is the thought of her. I love her. I love Annabeth Chase, and I could never be happy knowing that she is going though this. So no deal, you sick bastard."

Percy ran. All he could hear was his feet pounding on the ground and his heart beating in his chest. The screaming of his muscles barely noticeable as the looming trees flew past beside him. The knife in his hand was just the right weight, though he might have preferred a sword. But it had been so long since he had last held a weapon, and it almost felt like he had some control in his own fate. Suddenly a dark silhouette loomed before him, and he slid underneath it just as it brought its sword down where his head had just been. He darted to the right, then to the left, his eyes searching for an opening. There it was! He used its colossal arm to swing himself up, leaving a large gash in its shoulder. It just switched the word to the other hand. Great, an ambidextrous monster. Just what he needed. Another opening later and even more black blood was dripping to the floor. The knife between his teeth, he shimmied up a nearby tree. When the monster had swung one giant clawed hand towards him he leapt off it, burying the knife up to the hilt in its throat.

Taking great gasps of air, he tugged the knife out of its tough flesh. His eyes were already searching for the next monster when he felt it. It was a tiny tug in his chest, barely noticeable. But he held onto it like a lifeline. It reminded him of a time long ago, when that familiar little tug had meant home, safety, had meant that Grover was somewhere near by and wasn't hurt. That little tug had pulled him back from more battles than he could count, and it reminded him of songs played badly on reed pipes and hours spent talking about everything and nothing next to his best friend. That little tug meant Grover.

Then it was gone, and somehow he knew that the fates wouldn't give him another chance. Glancing down at the knife in his hand, he whispered something into the stale air. "See you on the other side, G man." Then he plunged the knife into his side, a scream being wrenched from his lips as he collapsed on the cold hard ground.


	4. Chapter 4

**Look at that, nothing for a year and then two in the same day. I still don't own these characters, and this chapter mentions suicide briefly. Still, if that makes you uncomfortable then it's only a paragraph or so towards the end. Enjoy, and please leave a review!**

Annabeth's eyes flew open, everything blurring as her brain fought its way out of the fear and frenzy of the nightmare and back into her body. Her throat was raw from screaming, and her face was wet from tears. The nightmares took hold of her every night, breaking her a little more each time.

She glanced around. Where was Percy? It was pretty early; she doubted he was already at breakfast. That's it, he was at the lake! He loved a bit of surfing at sunrise. She smiled lightly to herself; stepping into the shower and feeling the water wash away the terrors of he night. She stepped out and threw on her camp t-shirt and a pair of shorts, her bead necklace still on from the day before. She briefly wondered why Percy had let her go to sleep with it on, he always joked that he 'didn't survive all this with you to have you strangled at night by a dam necklace'. He must have forgotten to remind her. Just as she was stepping out she picked up a thick book on English medieval architecture. They had to go to England sometime, there was so much history there. She'd get a bit of light reading at the lake, or even while swimming. Her seaweed brain would keep the book from getting wet. His powers sure were handy sometimes.

She all but skipped towards the lake, hardly passing any campers. It was earlier than she thought. Then the lake was in front of her, sapphire blue and sparkling in the sun that was just peeking from behind Zeus's cabin. The beauty of it nearly brought a tear to her eyes. The camp was so beautiful. She wished she could tell herself as a scared, proud twelve year old that in a couple of years she would be in a beautiful place surrounded with beautiful people who loved and appreciated her. She could just imagine the look on her past self's face if she could tell her that t was Percy Jackson who stole her heart in the end.

Speaking of which, she couldn't see Percy anywhere. The whole world seemed to slow down, the sound becoming quieter and more muffled until she was surrounded by nothing more than white noise. Then her world shattered, each sharp piece embedding itself into her heart. It ripped apart the meticulous stitching that held her together.

He wasn't here.

He wasn't here.

He wasn't here.

She sank down to her knees, the book tumbling out of her hand and falling onto the sand. The yellow sand underneath her face was turning darker, drops of salt water streaming out of her eyes and falling onto the ground. Who knew that tear ducts could produce so much salt water, you'd think they'd run out after one hundred years of pain.

Percy wasn't here. He was getting tortured, hidden somewhere even the gods couldn't find him.

She was on her own.

When Piper found her a couple of hours later, she was curled up in the foetal position in the sand, rocking slowly in time with the waves. The daughter of Aphrodite held her as great rasping sobs tore across her body, gently wiping the tears from her eyes before they got the chance to fall. Piper felt tears coming to her own eyes, looking at her once happy friend. Seeing someone so brave, powerful, intelligent, beautiful crying with such despair in their eyes broke something inside of her.

"I brought something to eat from breakfast."

Annabeth shook her head, glancing up at the muffin being held out to her. The sight of it only pulled back down to e despair that she was drowning in.

The muffin was blue. Just like all the food now, to honour Percy Jackson's sacrifice. To stop people from forgetting him, apparently. But nobody forgot him. The new campers sang songs of him, telling stories of how he saved the world at just twelve years old, how he was one of the seven who defended the world from Gaia herself, of how he was the one men who earned Artemis's trust. The asked Annabeth too, looked up to her. Looked at her with awe in their eyes. But they were wrong. She couldn't even figure out a way to save the person she loved most in the world.

"So, that's good, isn't it?" Annabeth looked up at her friend, disentangling herself from her.

"Sorry?" She sounded strong, certain of herself. She sounded like her whole world wasn't going down in flames before her eyes.

"I didn't think you were listening." Piper smiled in a way that was meant to look reassuring, but ended up looking like she was holding back tears. "I said Grover's coming back to Camp."

Annabeth nodded, forcing her lips into smile. She really was relieved. When Percy had been taken prisoner her and Grover had grown closer together than ever before. They shared their grief, and had both spent the majority of the last century looking for their best friend. Together they had searched high and low, upturned every rock and talked to anyone who even looked like they might know something. Grover had set off on an expedition to talk to some squirrels who knew of a legend passed down by their squirrel grandfathers. They truly were getting desperate.

Annabeth needed her satyr best friend now more than ever.

"That's really good."

"He said he wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks. It might be good news." The daughter of Athena knew her friend was trying to help, but she'd given up hope of finding Percy long ago. She's never stop looking, but couldn't help feeling if he was going to be found they'd have found him by now.

Annabeth tried to smile again, laying a steady hand on Piper's shoulder. "Thank you for being there for me. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you sticking by me." Piper looked at the ground, smiling sadly.

"Don't worry about it."

The two friends set off towards the entrance to the camp. Annabeth noticed Piper was fidgeting with excitement. She kept opening her mouth to say something and then deciding against it. Annabeth made herself seem relaxed, painting an easy smile on her face. At the start it had been hard, pretending that everything was fine. But acting was easier now.

"What's up with you? You seem awfully happy this morning."

A giant smile stretched over the daughter of Aphrodite's face, her eyes alive with joy.

"HeproposedfinallyandIsaidyesI'msoexcited!" She yelled, her hand clamped over her mouth. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at Piper. The fact that she was too excited to use words meant that something big had happened.

"Come again?"

"HE PROPOSED!" She physically tried to cam herself down. "He proposed. Jason proposed last night in the woods. We were just dancing, and then he got down on one knee and said the sweetest things ever, and then he asked me to be his wife."

Annabeth smiled at her friend, even though her heart was breaking. "When do you think the wedding's going to be?"

"I don't know. But I can't wait. Everyone's going to be there."

Looking back, Annabeth had no right to say what she did. She should have just kept her mouth shut, and kept nodding away at her friend rambling on. But she had to say it.

"Everyone won't be there."

"Annabeth, I…"

"Percy won't be there. Percy'll be getting tortured somewhere on the other side of the world, so no, everyone won't be there."

"You have to move on. You can't stop living just because he's not around anymore."

"Don't say that! Don't you dare act like he's dead. He isn't gone. My seaweed brain isn't gone. And I'm not going to move on and abandon him. I love him Piper."

The blonde strode away before she gave her friend the chance to answer. She went to the only place she knew she could be alone. She turned the lock of the little house she had been given, slumping down onto the bed as tears rolled down her cheeks. One hundred years. One hundred years was such a long time. One hundred years. If she hadn't been made immortal she would most likely have died by now, six feet underground and finally at peace. The thought of it seemed so attractive, the thought of the weight on her shoulders that was heavier than the sky itself being lifted.

She might have considered it if it wasn't for the camp. She might have considered just taking a few too many sleeping pills and drifting off to sleep, if she hadn't had so many people relying on her. Chiron had passed away a couple of years ago, and now the camp looked up to her. Maybe that was why everything had suddenly become so difficult, like how it had at the start when Percy first got captured. Because it felt so wrong, leading a camp that had come to represent happiness and home to her without the person who she had shared it with.

There was a knock on the door, and she breathed in and out, straightening her t-shirt and trying to compose herself. When the door swung open her apology was already on her lips. "I'm so sorry I…" Her words died as noticed who it was. "Grover? You usually spend an hour or so with Juniper before we talk." She noticed the satyr opposite her for the first time. His face and shirt were streaked with mud, but his face was alive for one of the first times in a century. She couldn't help but mirror his smile as he bounced on his toes in excitement.

"Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth! You better sit down." When she had, he continued. "I was in the mountains, trying to track down a certain beaver who apparently saw something to do with Percy. When suddenly, I felt this pain in my side. And it was the connection, the connection between me and Percy. Before I thought I felt something but I just assumed it was imagination, but this is unmistakable. Annabeth, he's alive. He's alive, and he's fighting!" Without knowing it she had raised to her feet, grinning from ear to ear. Every single part of her body felt alive and full of energy, and before she knew it she had unrolled one of the maps that she kept around the room.

"Can you point out where he is?"

"Yeah! As I climbed the mountain the pain just got stronger, but then it died away again. It felt the most intense here." He pointed to the summit of a large snow capped mountain not too far from camp, maybe a couple of hours Pegasus ride away.

"We can get him back!" Grover's bleating became unintelligible as they ran outside the cabin, dancing round and jumping up and down. Annabeth squealed, caught herself, realized that she didn't care one bit what anybody thought of her and squealed again.

The campers gathered around the ecstatic pair in amazement, not quite sure what to make of one of the camp leaders and the Lord of the Wild dancing around and squealing. Piper fought her way to the front, grinning from ear to ear as she saw her friend.

Once the pair had finally calmed down Annabeth ran back inside and got the map. She addressed the crowd. "Everyone who is battle ready is to get their weapons and armour and meet in their cabins, all cabin leaders are to meet me in the Big House as soon as possible."

As everyone dispersed, she murdered into the wind, "I'm coming to get you, seaweed brain."


End file.
